It belongs to a group, which consists of 700 species of hairy spiders. Unlike most spiders, it does not spin webs to catch prey, rather use silk to secure the entrance to its burrow. It typically lives in the ground.
It is a night-time hunter. It uses its legs to catch prey, which includes insects. Some of the bigger tarantula species enjoy frogs, toads and mice.
After catching a prey, it injects paralyzing venom into it. It secretes digestive enzymes to liquefy its body and drink it using its straw-like mouth openings.
It defends itself by throwing needle-like, barbed hairs at its attackers.
One of the most distinctive traits of many tarantulas is the presence of bristly hairs on their bodies, including their legs. Although this looks like hair and is commonly described as such, spiders and other arthropods do not have true hair like mammals do. Mammalian hair is mainly made of keratin, while arthropod setae consists largely of chitin.
Tarantulas are long-lived spiders, although their life spans vary by sex as well as species. Male tarantulas may live for as long as 10 years, but once they successfully mate, they usually die within a few months. Female tarantulas, on the other hand, have been known to live for 30 years.
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